Happening Today
Pelosi in Concord, Health Policy Commission, SeedMA Baby
— U.S. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is billed as the special guest at a fundraiser for Lori Trahan, the Democratic nominee in the Third Congressional District, with recommended campaign donations range from $500 to $2,700, 48 Monument Sq., Concord, 8:30 a.m.
— The Health Policy Commission’s annual cost trends hearing runs all day Tuesday and Wednesday, with HPC Chairman Stuart Altman, Gov. Charlie Baker and Speaker Robert DeLeo opening the hearing with remarks, Suffolk Law School, Tremont Street, Boston, running from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
— Boston Mayor Martin Walsh joins Treasurer Deborah Goldberg for an announcement on the SeedMA Baby program, Treasurer’s Office, Room 227, 9:30 a.m.
— Faith leaders join members of the Committee to Ensure Safe Patient Care to advocate for the passage of Question 1 on this November’s ballot, Cathedral Church of St. Paul, 138 Tremont St., Boston, 11 a.m.
— Boston City Council President Andrea Campbell is a guest on ‘Boston Public Radio,’ WGBH-FM 89.7, 12 p.m.
— Mayor Martin Walsh joins Boston Public Schools interim superintendent Laura Perille, Treasurer Deborah Goldberg and members of the Boston Arts Academy community to break ground for the new $125 million arts academy building, Boston Arts Academy, 174 Ipswich St., Fenway, 2:30 p.m.
— ‘Radio Boston’ hosts an hour-long debate on Question 3, the ballot referendum on whether to uphold the state’s transgender public accommodations law, with Andrew Beckwith of the Massachusetts Family Institute arguing against the law and Kasey Suffredini of Yes on 3’ arguing in favor, WBUR-FM 90.9, 3 p.m.
— State Sen. Cynthia Creem hosts a reception with the German Consul General Nicole Menzenbach for the opening of the Boston Common exhibit Lest We Forget, a holocaust remembrance project, Room 428, 3 p.m.
— The Massachusetts Bar Association’s Dispute Resolution Section holds a panel discussion on accountability and reconciliation in the #MeToo era, moderated by Boston Globe editor-at-large Walter Robinson, Massachusetts Bar Association, 20 West St., Boston, 4:30 p.m.
— The group of Massachusetts lawmakers who spent a week traveling in Portugal and the Azores return to Massachusetts, Logan Airport, 5:30 p.m.
— Author Cara Stillings Candal joins former Gov. William Weld and former Senate President Thomas Birmingham for a discussion of ‘The Fight for the Best Charter Public Schools in the Nation,’ a new book from the Pioneer Institute panel, Kennedy School of Government, 79 JFK St., Cambridge, 6 p.m.
— WGBH holds an advance screening of the new NOVA documentary ‘Addiction,’ which looks at the opioid epidemic and the science behind it, with a panel discussion afterward, WGBH Studios, 1 Guest St., Brighton, 7 p.m.
For more calendar listings, check out State House News Service’s Daily Advances (pay wall – free trial subscriptions available) and MassterList’s Beacon Hill Town Square below.
Today’s Stories
Fall River’s Correia to make announcement as councilors press for his ouster
Embattled Fall River Mayor Jasiel Correia, arrested last week on federal fraud charges, announced that he plans to “deliver a statement to the media and gathered supporters” this morning – and no one quite knows what he will say, reports the Herald News. Resign? Fight? What? Anyway, Jo C. Goode at the Herald News reports that many city councilors know what they want to say at a special hearing tonight: Correia must go. Though there are questions about whether the council has the legal authority to oust the mayor.
A rally is also planned for later today outside the city’s government center calling for Correia to go – or face a recall vote, reports Kevin O’Connor at the Herald News. Btw: Adding insult to injury, Correia is getting evicted from his residence, reports Aimee Ortiz at the Globe.
The post-DNA fallout: The more things change …
We were ready to say U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s release yesterday of her DNA test results, which show strong evidence she indeed has Native American ancestry, was a smashing success. She followed up her initial DNA announcement, via the Globe on Monday, with the release of a new video in which she mocks President Trump’s past taunting of her as ‘Pocahontas,’ fired off a barrage of tweets and basically went on the offensive against the president, reports the NYT. She even appeared to have the president on the defensive over his past vow to pay her $1 million if she took a DNA test (see post below).
As the day wore on, though, reality seemed to set in: The old battle lines were still there. Conservatives simply don’t care what the tests showed, as the Globe’s Annie Linskey reports. Exhibit A of that conservative intransigence: Howie Carr’s column this morning in the Herald. Exhibit B: The conservative Breibart jumping all over a Globe math error. Meanwhile, some experts, though not all, have started questioning the validity of Warren’s ancestry claims, despite the DNA results, reports the Globe’s Michael Levenson.
But here’s the coverage that caught our attention: Reports by the Washington Post’s Matt Viser and the Herald’s Kimberly Atkins. Viser, a former Globe reporter, notes that some political observers believe the entire episode shows that Warren and other Dems are merely reacting to Trump’s agenda and that the entire DNA controversy is distracting from Dems’ mid-term election efforts. Atkins reports roughly the same thing: Concerns about how Warren’s 2020 ambitions are hogging the headlines and airwaves with the mid-terms now only weeks away.
About Trump’s initial $1M pledge and counter ‘creepy’ offer
President Trump, who once vowed to fork over $1 million if Elizabeth Warren ever got a DNA test to show whether or not she has Native American ancestry, initially seemed on the defensive yesterday after news broke that, yes, Warren had indeed gotten a DNA test – and it showed she has some distant Native American ancestry, albeit very distant ancestry. But by the end of yesterday, Trump was saying he’s hand over $1 million only if he could conduct the test himself. Warren rightly called that offer “creepy.” The Herald’s Sean Philip Cotter reports.
Btw: Republican U.S. Senate candidate Geoff Diehl, who’s challenging Warren in the November election, is calling on Warren to drop out of the Senate race, reports Shannon Young at MassLive. But Somerville Mayor Joe Curtatone is wagering that Diehl won’t ever beat Warren. As the Globe’s Steve Annear notes, it’s a “silly bet.”
Lawmakers earmark $10M for Merrimack Valley recovery as they divvy up budget surplus
To the relief of state bean counters who were getting a little worried about messy accounting books, Beacon Hill lawmakers yesterday finally passed a budget bill to close out fiscal 2018 and to divvy up the state’s budget surplus. The bill included $10 million for recovery efforts in the Merrimack Valley and deposits of funds into the state’s ‘rainy day’ account. But the legislation also included less money than what Gov. Charlie Baker had requested for school safety. Shira Schoenberg at MassLive and Colin Young at SHNS (pay wall) have all the budget details.
Meanwhile, state hauls in $7M in taxes from MGM Springfield
The state’s tax-revenue take in the first full month of operations at MGM Springfield came to $7 million in September, as the Bay State’s first full-fledged casino reported total revenues of $27 million for the month. SHNS’s Colin Young has more at CommonWealth magazine.
A state contractor will build a temporary bridge for free? Really?
There’s got to be a catch somewhere. This is almost too good to be true. Bruce Mohl at CommonWealth magazine reports how a contractor has offered to build a temporary bridge while work is under way to replace the North Washington Street Bridge between Charlestown and Boston’s North End, as a way to save time and ease traffic during the project. All for free. You read that right: Free.
Meanwhile, SHNS’s Michael Norton at the Herald reports how the state is planning to spend a total of more than $400 million in roadway repairs, including the North Washington Street Bridge, north of Boston in the near futures.
Perille: ‘I will not be submitting my name as a candidate in the superintendent search’
We must have missed something prior to this. In a Globe op-ed, Laura Perille, interim superintendent of the Boston Public Schools, pronounces that “I will not be submitting my name as a candidate in the superintendent search process” and urges the school committee to conduct a “full and thoughtful search process to find Boston’s next educational leader.” Not your normal two-week notice letter, that’s for sure.
In other school matters, the Globe’s Aimee Ortiz reports that two city councilors are calling for a hearing into the admissions process at the city’s public exam schools.
Orrall goes after Goldberg for employing state lawyer at center of Sonja Farak storm
State Rep. Keiko Orrall, a Republican challenging Democratic Treasurer Deb Goldberg, is questioning why the Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission, controlled by Goldberg, is employing a former assistant attorney general accused of withholding evidence in the case involving state lab chemist Sonja Farak, whose criminal antics have led to the dismissal of thousands of drug cases. Shira Schoenberg at MassLive has the details.
‘Romney is trying to distance himself from himself’
The Never Trump movement of 2016? What Never Trump movement? Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, now running for U.S. Senate in Utah, is at it again, playing dumb about how he was once one of Donald Trump’s top Republican critics in 2016. Amber Phillips at the Washington Post says Romney is now effectively “trying to distance himself from himself” and providing a hint about what role he’ll play in the Senate come January, i.e. he won’t be the principled pillar of GOP opposition to the president.
Lawmakers join those pressuring SSA to rethink Woods Hole terminal
The Steamship Authority is facing growing pressure to head back to the drawing board with its plans for a new $60 million passenger terminal in Woods Hole, with two Cape lawmakers joining residents in pushing back against a design that has been called inappropriate for the village-like feel of where it will be built, Ethan Genter reports at the Cape Cod Times.
Scoot over: Here come the scooters
Boston is moving ahead with plans to allow a test of electric scooter sharing programs as soon as next spring, though the city hopes to be part of a larger regional rollout of the personal transportation technology, which has received decidedly mixed reviews in other communities, Brooks Sutherland reports at the Herald.
Additional state workers are dispatched to Florida to help in recovery efforts
At the request of Florida, a dozen more Massachusetts emergency response workers are heading south to help with recovery and cleanup efforts in the wake of Hurricane Michael, a week after the Bay state sent one employee from the Department of Energy Resources and two from the Department of Environmental Protection to help out. SHNS’s Colin Young has the details.
SHNS (pay wall — free trial subscription available)
The mystery over where Massachusetts keeps finding workers to fuel the booming economy
Massachusetts is a northeast state expected to see workers flock elsewhere and lose in population — not see workers flock to here and gain in population. Yet the latter is happening – and economists are puzzled exactly where those workers are coming from to keep fueling the current economic expansion. They’re pretty sure they’re skilled out-of-state employees, but not a 100 percent sure. SHNS’s Mike Norton has a good story at WBUR on the somewhat mysterious, though welcome, work-force phenomenon.
Smart move: MIT plans to invest $1B in new Artificial Intelligence college
Just like that, MIT plans to start a new $1 billion college centered around the study of artificial intelligence (AI) and has already raised $650 million for the venture. Kelly O’Brien at the BBJ reports that it is MIT’s “biggest announcement yet in a series of moves that are re-orienting the entire school around the study of artificial intelligence.” The NYT has more on the new school.
Sears store in Natick will close due to company’s new bankruptcy filing
Perhaps because it’s previously closed so many other Sears stores in Massachusetts, Sears Holdings Corp. announced yesterday that only one of its Sears outlets in the state, in Natick, will be closed as an immediate result of the parent company’s new bankruptcy filing, according to a report at the MetroWest Daily News. A total of 142 outlets nationwide will be shuttered due to the bankruptcy move.
Meanwhile, the Globe’s Tim Logan reports on how the previously announced closing of the Sears store in East Cambridge could help boost an even larger project at CambridgeSide.
True believers: Fidelity launches 100-employee Bitcoin firm
It’s a volatile and risky field, one that more than a few financial experts scoff at routinely. But Fidelity’s Abigail Johnson is a true believer in crypto currencies like Bitcoin – and what she wants she gets at her family-controlled Fidelity Investments. Greg Ryan at the BBJ reports on Fidelity’s announcement yesterday it has created a new 100-employee firm that will hold and trade Bitcoin on behalf of institutional investors.
AFL-CIO chief slams National Grid for putting profits over safety
In a Globe op-ed, Steven Tolman, president of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO, is trying to keep the pressure on National Grid to end its lockout of nearly 1,300 union natural-gas workers, arguing that it’s now clear the utility is putting profits over safety. His proof? The cruise ship now docked in Boston Harbor. He explains. And he does make sense.
McGovern and Lovvorn find plenty to disagree on in debate
U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern and his Republican challenger faced off in Worcester Monday and agreed on virtually nothing in a debate that featured a few testy exchanges, Steven Foskett Jr. reports at the Telegram. Challenger Tracy Lovvorn painted the 11-term incumbent as ‘part of the fabric of dysfunction’ while McGovern accused Lovvorn of ‘trashing my city” when she said efforts to address poverty in Worcester have fallen short.
‘Bellotti going strong at 95’
He looks great. He sounds great. He’s 95-year-old Frank Bellotti, the former state attorney general and perhaps the oldest living former statewide office holder. Bellotti talks with James Aloisi, the former state transportation chief and former lawyer in Bellotti’s government bureau office, about a wide range of topics at CommonWealth magazine. If only the rest of us could live so long – and look and sound so healthy at the same time.
Ah, we always wanted a Tiffany’s porridge and tea set …
Want to buy opera glasses inlaid with mother-of-pearl, a Tiffany’s porridge and tea set or a Michael Jordan rookie baseball card? They’re among the unclaimed property items that Treasurer Deb Goldberg’s office plans to auction off on eBay if the true owners can’t be found soon, reports Shira Schoenberg at MassLive. This being an election year: State Rep. Keiko Orrall, a Republican running against Goldberg, is raising questions about the auction.
‘Gladiator,’ Part II
Finally, when you find the time, you really should read the Globe Spotlight Team’s ‘Gladiator’ series on the tragic and traumatic life of late New England Patriots star Aaron Hernandez, starting with the first installment on his upbringing in Bristol, Conn., then his college days at the University of Florida and then today’s piece on his early double-life years in the NFL. The series dismantles many of the lies, myths and mysteries surrounding Hernadez’s life. The first installment, covering his regular brutal beatings by his father, is chilling to read. Three more installments are coming.
Author Talk and Book Signing with Barbara Berenson
Author talk and book signing with Barbara Berenson, Senior Attorney at the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court and author of the new book, Massachusetts in the Woman Suffrage Movement: Revolutionary Reformers.
State Library of Massachusetts
11th Annual Public Performance Conference
Please join us for the 11th Annual Public Performance Conference. The goal of the conference is to examine and discuss performance management research and models for the adoption and implementation of compelling practices in the public sector.
Divest to Invest: Divesting from the Prison Industry to Invest in Our Communities
Please join New Leaders Council Boston and community organizers, including the Corrections Accountability Project and College Bound Dorchester, on Thursday, October 18th to discuss a Boston-wide campaign to divest public and private funds from the prison industrial complex.
Negotiating Skills: Art, Science or Luck?
Learn how to identify the appropriate tactics and counter tactics employed for any type of negotiators to reach a more leveraged position (even when you think you’re at a disadvantage).
Fight Night Boston: Demetrius Andrade vs Billy-Joe Saunders
Matchroom Boxing USA and Murphys Boxing Promotions announce a major world championship boxing event to be held at Boston’s TD Garden on October 20, 2018.
Matchroom Boxing USA and Murphys Boxing Promotions
Financial Experience Design Conference
The 2018 FXD Conference, a one-and-a-half-day conference, is a select gathering of more than 150 executives, experts, visionaries, and progressive thinkers from across the insurance, banking, wealth management, and fintech industries.
Boston Trade Compliance and Policy Seminar
International trade regulations change constantly—old rules are updated and new regulations are added every day. Attend one of the full-day seminars in a location close to you to stay up to date on the latest information. Learn about changing international trade regulations with industry experts—C.H. Robinson’s Kevin Doucette —who is passionate about this subject.
We The People’s For Creators, By Creators
We The People, the world’s only multi-channel crowdfunding retail chain and community, is hosting a kick-off crowdfunding event where local entrepreneurs from companies such as Rocketbook, Think Board and allocacoc will provide tips on how to leverage crowdfunding to launch products. They will also discuss how to create crowdfunding campaigns and some lessons learned.
Real Estate Finance Fundamentals Onsite Course
This is a two part course that will be held on October 26, 2018 and November 2, 2018. This 2-day course will focus on debt and equity financing of income-producing real property. The course will look at both the private debt and equity markets for real estate finance, and the commercial mortgage-backed securities market for debt financing.
Back from the Brink: A Call to Prevent Nuclear War (Gonson Lecture)
Experts say we are closer to accidental or intentional nuclear war than at any time since the 1950s – and yet, at the same time, also closer than ever to an international ban to dismantle all of these immoral weapons. Come hear about the race for human survival, and what citizens can do to help.
Cambridge Center for Adult Education
Today’s Headlines
Metro
Forbes predicts these Boston startups will be worth $1 billion – Boston Business Journal
Councilors want to look at changing how kids get into Boston’s exam schools – Universal Hub
Massachusetts
Report: Moving disputed wind turbine in Falmouth would cost $3 million – Cape Cod Times
Fitchburg paraprofessional on leave over tweet involving Trump’s son – Lowell Sun
Nation
Trump side-steps truth with go-to moves on 60 Minutes – Washington Post
Democrats surge ahead of Republlicans in fund-raising for key races – New York Times
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